Well see that’s just it: I think science can test for dualism or, more accurately, test for the absence of physical qualities in mathematics, language, or any other form of information. That’s what this other blog stream (What Words Are Not) is all about. I’m sorry for invading this bog stream as well. I’m obsessed. It’s all I ever think about. If I’m in a trance, my poor wife usually doesn’t ask me what I’m thinking about because I might say something like, “I’m thinking about what exactly the number eleven is and how we can test for its lack of physical qualities.”
No matter what you call them–“abstractions” or “qualia” or “memes”, etc.–you can’t articulate a theory (much less test one) as to what physical qualities they may have. I don’t know of anyone who actually tries to say they’re composed of neurons.